Europe woke up on 24 June 2016 with a
sense of disbelief. We could hardly believe that the British people had
decided, in a sovereign vote, to put an end to 44 years of common history. We
found it hard to grasp, a few months later, that Transatlantic relations might
change as a result of the election of Donald Trump. And of course, following
each terrorist attack we found it hard to believe that our countries' children
could inflict irreparable harm on our soil.

Put the
spotlight on hope – highlighted with repetition

But on each
occasion, this sense of shock led to a common response.

Very quickly,
following the British referendum, Europeans expressed their desire to continue
to move forward together.

Very quickly,
following the election of Mr Trump, the Union spoke out strongly to reaffirm
its commitment to multilateralism and the fight against climate change.

Very quickly,
following each of the attacks on our soil, in Paris, Brussels, Nice, London,
Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm and Barcelona, we saw a display of solidarity
between the peoples of Europe and a determination to fight terrorism side by
side.

Here is the proof that the things that unite
us – our common values, our desire to be together and the benefits of being
together – are stronger than anything that might divide us.

Bring clarity

We need to continue on
this path without losing sight of the essential thing: the future of the Union,
which is much more important than Brexit.

Contrast the general negativity … – strengthened
by more repetition –

The general
mood was one of pessimism. They told us that the Union would be divided.
They predicted victories for the populists in the Netherlands, France, Austria.
They told us that other European countries would definitely follow the British
example.

… with a positive
outcome

Almost a year and a half later none of that
has happened.

Be memorable with counterintuitivenss

Paradoxically, Brexit has
also united the 27.

Clarify the choices at stake

These choices
have consequences.

- It is not possible to be half in and half
out of the single market.

- It is not possible to end the free movement
of persons, while retaining the free movement of goods, services or capital by
means of a generalised system of equivalences.

- It is not possible to leave the single
market and continue to set the rules.

- It is not possible to leave the customs
union but expect to enjoy frictionless trade with the EU.

And :

We want a united, not a
uniform Europe.

And :

The United Kingdom has
chosen to leave the European Union. Will it also want to distance itself from
the European model? That is another matter.

Repetition

There is no reason – and
I repeat, no reason – why the single market should be weakened when a Member
State leaves.

Whom do you quote – I?

Let us remember what
Barack Obama said to the American people: ‘We are the ones we have been waiting
for.' ‘Siamo quelli che stiamo aspettando'.

You will win, but you
will not convince. You will win, because you possess more than enough brute
force, but you will not convince, because to convince means to persuade. And in
order to persuade you would need what you lack — reason and right in the
struggle.

If there are science-fiction lovers
among you here today, you might be familiar with the author Ray Bradbury. He
wrote the famous sci-fi novel "Fahrenheit 451" (…) I will just give
you a small excerpt. He said:

So it is finally with the robots you say
you fear. Why fear something? Why not create with it? I am not afraid of
robots, I am afraid of people…Any machine, any robot, is the sum total of the
way we use it.

Two years ago, when I was
still Germany’s Foreign Minister, I read an impressive interview in one of our
daily newspapers. A man, in his mid-fifties, an electrical engineer from
Slovakia, talked about his failed attempt to settle in the United States in the
early 1990s. He had applied to hundreds of companies, but to no avail. He had
kept his head above water with casual labour, shared a tiny apartment with
fellow countrymen suffering a similar fate, and had used up his savings. In the
end, he gave up. "No one wanted an electrical engineer from the
former Eastern bloc", he surmised. He returned to his home country.

The story might well end
here. However, then we discover, almost in passing, that while he may have been
penniless, he returned from the US with the desire to set up shop as an entrepreneur.
Mr President, the last sentence of this short biography is – in your own words
– as follows:"Back home, I was very successful.
Later on, I devoted my energy to charitable projects and now I’m President. A
curious career."

Mr President, Andrej Kiska, I would say that this career, your
career, is, above all, a great lifetime achievement.

(…)Today, we –
French and Germans alike – are remembering together what happened in this very
place. We are recalling something that each generation has to learn afresh for
itself – to separate the concept of nation from the ideology of nationalism. We
are remembering what happened, because we never again want to be led astray by
nationalism – to repression at home and aggression towards others.

We
need this remembrance, as a memorial, a monument, a museum – but that alone
will not suffice. When we commemorate the soldiers who lie here, when we honour
their memory, we do so because we must not forget their deaths. This task is
not getting any easier, 100 years after the events, now that the last living
witnesses have died and young people ask,"what
has any of this to do with me?"But,
for this very reason, it is not one iota less important. (…)

Europe,
this Europe – the European Union united in peace – this is our response to the
devastation of two World Wars.

It’s very moving to receive this honorary doctorate, here at
Leuven University. Because in the nearly six centuries since the university was
first founded, Leuven has shaped our map of the world.

Sometimes literally. Many of us have a world map on the wall
that uses a technique that goes back to Gerardus Mercator – or Geert de Kremer,
as he was known when he first came to Leuven as a young man around 1530.

I therefore urge and
encourage you to continue! Bang on every table, march on every street, speak to
every decision-maker. Petition, write letters, and advocate. Speak to the
hearts and minds of Europeans and to citizens of the rest of the world. Make
them as aware and alert as we are that climate has no more time to wait. That
the Paris Agreement has no more time to wait. That ratification happened a year
ago and implementation must start now!